Cohousing-L Mailing List: Toronto Sustainable Communities Forum

[Dspreitzer (Dspreitzer]

Following is a press release about an upcoming event in Toronto, Ontario (as
in Canada) featuring cohousing as a sustainable way of life.  Read on if  you
are interested.

Donna Spreitzer,
Facilitator, Collaborative Housing Society
  

Sustainable Communities: An Evening Forum

On July 26, community leaders and interested citizens will gather in Toronto
for an evening forum to discuss ways of life that bridge living in community
with caring for the environment.

The Sustainable Communities Forum       will be held Saturday, July 26, 1997 
from
5:30-9:30 PM at the North Toronto Community Centre's Multi-purpose room,
lower level, located at 200 Eglinton Ave. West (of Yonge Street).
 Registration is $6.00 (2 for  $10) and children under 12 are free.  A
vegetarian cafe will be open for a light supper.  For more information call
Mari Naumovski at (416) 614-3466.  Sponsors of the forum include volunteers
from Friends of  Sustainable Living (FOSL), the Collaborative Housing
Society, the Green Coalition, and Seeds of Diversity.

Forum participants will hear about successful examples of sustainable
communities from speakers who have lived in these special communities or are
in the process of their creation.  Participants will have an opportunity to
discuss strategies towards the creation of more sustainable communities right
here in Ontario.  Displays of alternative technologies and green initiatives
will also be available.

Speakers include Rod and Julia Lambert, formerly of Orangeville, who now live
in the Eco-Village at Ithaca. They relocated to Ithaca, NY to live and raise
their family  in a truly sustainable community which is still evolving in its
quest to create 4 more cohousing communities within one Eco-Village. Two
former residents of Findhorn, Mary MacEacheran & Abhita Rackley, will speak
about this international community in Scotland which fosters new lifestyle
initiatives through both ecological and spiritual practices in green business
initiatives, interpersonal relationships and community living.  Donna
Spreitzer, a former resident of N Street Cohousing in Davis, California will
share slides and experiences about this retrofit cohousing neighbourhood as
well as discuss possibilities of creating retrofit cohousing in Toronto.  The
 final speaker, Judith McGill, will highlight the Halton Intentional
Community, a rural project close to becoming reality just West of Toronto.
 They plan to integrate their community with a biodynamic farm.

"The launching of this forum emerged from a wish to honour the vision and
creation of  sustainable communities  -  those just forming and those long
established," says Mari Naumovski, one of the forum organizers.  She adds,
"The act of  bringing together groups from different regions in the context
of a larger collective undertaking heightens and revitalizes each of  us to
pursue these kinds of projects, especially in light of the many economic and
personal constraints present in our age.   The event allows for greater
outreach potential to the public and may facilitate a shift towards quicker
realization. The wealth of experiences and information that the speakers
bring, combined with the enthusiasm of the participants will surely make for
an interesting and inspirational  evening."
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